Abstract

Suya chicken (A) and beef (B) samples classified according to state: TA₁ B₁ - raw; TA₂ B₂ - spiced; TA₃ B₃ - spiced and roasted; TA₄ B₄ - left over, unheated, spiced and roasted suya of the following day, TA₅ B₅ - leftover, heated, spiced and roasted suya of the following day, were collected from three locations in Ibadan metropolis, to identify the specific microorganisms in street vended chicken and beef suya and measure the microbial count at each stage of handling from the raw state to marketing and consumption. The plate count of Escherichia coli in raw chicken (10⁸/g) and beef suya (10⁷/g) dropped to 10⁶ and 10³/g, respectively after processing from the University staff suya spot. In the Sabo area suya spot samples,E. coli counts were observed in processed chicken suya (10⁴/g), before and after heating the second day (10⁷ and 10⁵/g, respectively). However, neither E. coli norSalmonella nor Shigella sp. was isolated from both types of “suya” samples from the General gas area. On the whole, E. coli counts were highest in spiced beef (3.3 x 10⁷/g) and chicken suya (3.4 x 10⁵/g) before roasting, whilst second day after heating gave E. coli counts of 3.3 x 10⁶/g. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from chicken suya (10⁵ and 10⁵/g and beef suya (10²/g) before and after heating the following day from the University Staff Club suya spot. S. aureus was also isolated from raw, spiced, before and after heating the second day beef suya samples from Sabo. It was again isolated from the General gas area processed chicken suya (10³/g), the second day before (10²/g) and after heating (10⁴/g). On the whole, S. aureus counts the second day after heating produced in beef suya 3.3 x 10³/g. Shigella, Salmonella and Klebseilla sp. were not isolated from the University of Ibadan staff club suya. The situation differed from that of Sabo.Klebseilla sp. counts of 10⁶ and 10⁷/g from raw and spiced chicken suya dropped to zero after processing and before and after heating the second day. Beef suyamicrobial counts showed a high prevalence of Klebseilla sp. in raw beef suya (10⁷/g), but then dropped after spicing and processing. It was however observed in beef “suya” the second day before and after heating (10⁶ and 10⁵/g, respectively). Neither Salmonella nor Shigella was isolated from both types of suya. Generally, the results showed that Klebsiella sp. had the highest count of 6.7 x 10⁵/g in raw chicken suya samples. It was observed that microbial counts of chicken and beef suya were at levels that pose health implications for consumers.

Key words: Suya, microbial count, safety, street vended meat, beef, chicken.